Psy 375 Senior Interview Essay Example for Free

Psy 375 Senior Interview Essay 1. What is the environment of your home like? Busy, before they got guardianship of their grandson, life was quiet and there was not very much that had to be done around the home. Once their grandson came to live with them at age 3, life became â€Å"a buzz† again. â€Å"Before our grandson came to us, we usually would get up in the morning, sit and relax as we drank our coffee and had a quiet breakfast together. Now, we (her and her spouse) are up early to get our grandson ready to go to school. † She also says â€Å"We had time for the things that we wanted to do in our later years of life, visiting family, traveling and such. Now our time is dedicated to raising our grandson who keeps us going and on our toes but we would not change the situations we are in now for the world. † 2. Has aging changed the home environment? Yes, when they were younger, they had the energy and health to do the things they wanted to. Sally says â€Å"With age came some small struggles to stay at the pace we had always had when we were younger. Things that were always easy slowly became more time consuming, housekeeping used to be something that I could complete pretty quickly; now, I am a little slower (with the help of my grandson). Otherwise, she says â€Å"life keeps us all busy. † 3. Do you rely on others for help with any activities in the home? Sally answers â€Å"No, we are still able and willing to do our chores and keep up with the necessary tasks that we have. Although, we do have â€Å"John† (grandson) visit family a few times a month so that we have time to recharge. † 4. Do you still drive? If so, how has aging changed how you drive? Sally answered, â€Å"Yes, we both (her and her husband Mike) still drive. Driving is something that you would think would stay the same as you grow old until you get old. When I am driving now, I feel like everyone is in a rush to get where they want to go and here I am taking my time, trying to be safe while all around me are probably cursing me and saying â€Å"Damn old lady is driving so slow. † (She laughed as she made the last remark. ) 5. What changes in your home do you face as you get older? Sally answers, â€Å"As my husband and I get older, we are starting to be slower at things that once took us very little time. I think as we continue to get older, we will continue to get slower. † She also says, â€Å"With having our grandson home with us, he is helping us when he sees us even struggle a little with even small things. I think as we get older, he will be the one to help us more than anyone else. Recreational Activities: 1. In the past, what did you do for recreation? What do you do now for enjoyment? Sally answers, â€Å"When we were younger and our children were at home with us, we would spend a lot of time outdoors. We loved to go camping, fishing and hunting as a family. As our children got older, they all had things that they were involved in that took that time away that we had for the fun things. † She then explained that as her and her husband grew older, that they became more focused on the things that they wanted to do like traveling and visiting family. Sally then explained â€Å"Now that we have our grandson, I go to the movies, library, and toy shopping an awful lot. † But then she explained that she takes pleasure in spending time with her grandson doing the things that he likes to do because she â€Å"loves to see the smile on his face. † Sally also explained that they are active members of a church that they go to twice a week (Wednesdays and Sundays) and they get great pleasure out of the service. 2. How often do you participate in these activities? Sally says â€Å"When â€Å"John† is a good boy at school and does what he is told here we usually take him out about once a week to do something special. † She then explains, â€Å"Church is a large part of our lives. We go to church not only to worship but also to have time with people that are around our age with and are like-minded. † 3. Have the things that do for recreation changed as you aged? As stated above, in their younger years, their recreation revolved around their family. As they got older, she says â€Å"The things we did slowed. We were not out all the time we possibly could have been. † Sally says, â€Å"We now spend time where we feel most comfortable, church and doing things with our grandson are what we do most now. † Social Support and Interactions: 1. Who do you interact with on a regular basis? Is this the same amount of contact you had in younger years of life? Sally says, â€Å"On a daily basis, my husband and grandson. I usually call my sister every couple days and see how she is doing and on a weekly basis the brothers and sisters I have at church. † She also says, â€Å"In the past, we had friends and neighbors that we were in contact with on a daily basis but as time went on, the friends we have kept are passing away or just losing contact with them all together. It is hard getting older and watching the friends you have start to pass away, it make me think that I will not always be here and then it makes me worry about who will keep our grandson when we are gone. † 2. Do you participate in any social clubs? Sally says, â€Å"The only real structured social club, if you can call it that, would be church activities. On Wednesdays, we go to church for bible study and social time where we talk with our friends there and on Sunday, we go to service that provides us with God’s word and time with our church brothers and sisters. † Meaningful Activities: 1. What gives your life meaning? Sally says, â€Å"My family is what gives my life meaning. I try to do as much as possible to stay in the loop of what is going on with my children and grandchildren. My children have always been the reason that we have worked so hard. We always wanted them to have the better things in life and we wanted them to be happy. † She also says â€Å"Now, my life revolves around taking care of â€Å"John† and making sure he feels that everything is okay and that he has a stable home to grow up in. † 2. Do you still engage in these activities as you did when you were younger? Sally says, â€Å"When we were younger, we had a lot more activities when our children were young. As they grew up, moved out on their own and had families of their own, our lives quieted down and the activities we were always doing changed into activities that â€Å"Mike† and I wanted to do until we got â€Å"John† and once we got â€Å"John† life became busy again with all of his activities. † Mental Stimulation: 1. In the past, what did you do to keep your mind sharp? Sally says, â€Å"In the past, I had my work to keep my mind sharp. I was a secretary at the middle school in the town we live for almost 20 years and was always busy with the tasks that were I had to do. My children also kept my mind going and I loved helping them with their homework because this helped me keep my mind working and remembering how to do problems like math and science. † 2. What do you do now to keep your mind sharp? Sally says, â€Å"Now to keep my mind sharp I do a lot of word and number puzzles. I love to do Sudoku puzzles and word find puzzles. Sudoku puzzles really keep my mind working because sometimes I feel like my hair is on fire when I am done with them (she chuckles.) I also spend time with â€Å"John† to helping him with his homework and I think this helps to keep me learning still because I have noticed that the way children are taught now has really changed from when I had my children in school. † Physical Activities: 1. In the past, what did you do to keep physically fit? Sally says, â€Å"In the past, when my children lived at home, we were always on the go. We would go places where we would walk and hike through the woods like when we would go hunting or fishing. We lives close to the corner store so we would also just walk to the store when we needed a few things instead of get in the car and drive. † She also says â€Å"I never was a really big health nut who was always worried about exercise because my weight was never an issue. I felt that is my weight was good then I was getting plenty of exercise. † 2. What do you do to keep physically fit now? Sally says, â€Å"Nowadays we love to take â€Å"John† for walks at the local trails. It’s nice to be out in the fresh air and be able to not only spend time with â€Å"Mike† and â€Å"John† but to get a little exercise because I have noticed that the older I get the less muscle I seem to have. † â€Å"It seems like the little things are more of a challenge than they were in previous years. Even just opening a jar is sometimes a challenge. † 3. Are you able to keep up with the daily physical stresses that you are tasked with on a daily basis? Sally says, â€Å"Yes, it seems like I am still doing a pretty good job keeping up with everything I have to do on a daily basis (as she looks around her living room. ) She also says â€Å"Keeping a house clean is a chore in its own when you have a grandson to pick up after everywhere he goes. † She also says, â€Å"I get around to the things I need to do now when I get to them. I used to try to make sure the house was perfect when my children and â€Å"Mike† would come home each day and thought that having a clean house for them, food cooking and clothes laid out for them daily was what I was supposed to do. Now that I think about it, I would have much rather of been having fun with them instead of being worried about the house. † Ending the interview, her last statement is, â€Å"Life now is a little bit harder than it was when I was younger. It seems like the older I get, the slower I am. † She then tells me, â€Å"Make sure that you spend your time doing what makes you happy. †